Wash-board protector



I (No Model) 0 H WILLIAMS WASH BOARD PROTECTOR.

No. 327,684. Patented Oct. 6, 1885.

UNITE STATES ATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES H. \VILLIAMS, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

WASH-BOARD PROTECTOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 327,634, dated October 6, 1885.

Application filed June 6,1885. Serial No. 107,82. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. W ILLIAMS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wash-Board Protectors, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention has relation to wash-board protectors, and has for its object the provision of a protector of such a construction, and attached to an ordinary wash-board in such a manner, that when in operative position it shall serve to protect the clothes of the operator from the splashing suds, and serve as a rigid support of a desired contour to conform to the body of the operator, and be capable of being folded down into the soap-pocket of an ordinary wash-board, so as not to interfere with a compact arrangement or packing of several wash-boards for purposes of storage or shipment; and the invention consists in certain features of construction hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l is a perspective of the upper portion of an ordinary wash-board provided with my improved protector. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal vertical section. Fig. 3 is a perspective of one of the upper corners of the board, show ing the arrangement of the spring, and Fig. 4 is a perspective of one end of the protector. Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate a double board embodying my invention.

Like letters refer to like parts in all the figures.

A represents the side rails, B the cap-piece, G the branding-board, D the rubbing-surface, E the back board or foundation for the rubbing-surface, and F the cross-bar, of an ordinary wash-board, all of these parts being of the usual construction and relative pro portion and arrangement, and forming no part of my invention.

The space between the cross-bar F, the cappiece B, and the opposite rails, A, is usually designated as a soap-pocket of the board, and is a convenient place for storing the protector for packing purposes.

The protector G consists of a board having pivots G, which are inserted in holes G, formed in the side rails, A, near thejunction of the cap-piece and brandingboard. The upper surface of the protector is cut away, as at G to receive the cap'piece B, so that when folded upon its pivots upwardly, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a practical watertight joint is formed between the cappiece and the protector. The remaining outline of the upper side of the protector is curved to agree with the curved outer surface of the protector itself, so that when the protector is in operative position there is provided a broad surface of easy contour for the operators body to rest upon when in the act of washing.

It now remains to provide means for retaining the protector in operative position. This is represented in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and comprises awire spring, H, set with a saw kerf or slot, 1, formed in the side rails and near the upper edge of the same. One end, H, of the spring is driven into the solid part of the side rails, and the other end, H bent at an angle to its length, and is capable of being depressed within the kerf I, so as to permit the protector G to be folded down into the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, when it forms no obstruction to a compact arrangement of several boards for packing purposes, the projecting parts of the spring H serving in a measure to retain it from accidental displacement from the soap-pocket, while at the same time the yielding property of the spring permits the protector to be forced upwardly against the cap-piece until it passes the free end 11*, when said end, by the resiliency of the spring, is thrown outwardly in front of the protector and acts to retain it in its operative position.

To insure greater rigidity and firmness in the protector when in operative position as such, I may provide a spring at each end thereof-that is, in each of the side rails of the board.

So far as the shape or configuration of the protector G is concerned, I do not limit my invention to the use of the spring H as a means for retaining the protector in operative position; but I may use other well-known retaining devices instead thereof.

By the construction and arrangement of my protector I secureasolid wall from the branding-board to the outer edge of the protector, and said wall is in front of the joint formed between the cap-piece and protector.

In wash-boards having an outwardly-inclined cap'piece the longer or vertical wall of the cut-away portion G may be inclined, as shown by dotted lines X in Fig. 4, thereby giving greater thickness and strength to theprotector at that portion of the same.

In Figs. 5 and 6 I have illustrated niyinvention in a double board, in that upon each side of the branding-board O is arranged a protector, G, which is cut away to receive the cap-piece B, and each protector is held in operative position by a spring, H, Fig. 4, showing the protectors folded into the soapbox for packing purposes, and Fig. 6 showing them projected into operative position as protectors. V

Having described my invention and its operation, what I claim isl. The combination, with a wash-board, of a protector pivoted in the side rails thereof, and near the junction of the branding-board and cap-piece, and cutaway toreceive said cap-piece, and a fastening device for maintaining said protector in operative position, substantially as specified.

2. A protector for a wash-board, provided at its lower corners with pivots, and having its upper surface cut away to receiveand conform to the edge and lower surface of a cappiece, substantially as specified.

3. In a wash-board, the combination of the protector G, the side rails, A, and the springcatch H, substantially as shown and described.

4. In a wash-board, the combination of the side rails, A, cross-bar B of the protectorsG G, and spring-catches H H, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I atfix. my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES-H. WILLIAMS. [L. s.]

\Vitnesses:

A. I. BREWER, GUSTAV A. LAUBSCHER. 

